Noise reduction canopy device for machinery

ABSTRACT

Sound reduction apparatus for use with a machine, which apparatus includes a rigid sound-absorbing canopy overlying the noise-producing portions of the machine and a curtain formed of flexible light-transmissive, sound-restricting sheet plastic material extending downwardly from the canopy and enclosing the noise-producing portions of the machine with the bottom of the curtain in free-resting relationship upon a surface.

United States Patent Francis NOISE REDUCTION CANOPY DEVICE FOR MACHINERY[72] Inventor: Theodore R. Francis, 855 Richard Street, Aurora, Ill.60507 [22] Filed: Jan. 5, I972 [2]] Appl. No.: 215,510

52' us. Cl. ..181/33 K [51] Int. Cl. ..F02f 7/00, FOln H10 [58] Field ofSearch ..181/30, 33 G, 33 K, 33 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,962,441 6/1934 Haddock ..181/33 K 3,087,578 4/1963 Reed et a1...181/33 K 3,395,774 8/1968 Seifert ..l8l/33 K 3,534,828 10/1970 Iver etal. ..181/33 K [4 Oct. 24, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS1,390,359 l/1965 France ..181/33 K 278,196 9/1914 Germany ..l8l/33 K448,552 4/1968 Switzerland ..181/33 K Primary Examiner-Robert S. Ward,Jr. Attorney-George H. Gerstman [57] ABSTRACT Sound reduction apparatusfor use with a machine, which apparatus includes a rigid sound-absorbingcanopy overlying the noise-producing portions of the machine and acurtain formed of flexible light-transmissive, sound-restricting sheetplastic material extending downwardly from the canopy and enclosing thenoise-producing portions of the machine with the bottom of the curtainin free-resting relationship upon a surface.

5 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure PATENTEDUBT 24 1972 ,3. 700 068 BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates to improved apparatus for reducingthe sound level of a machine to an operator.

The United States Department of Labor has established sound levelregulations with respect to plants subject to the Walsh-Healey PublicContracts Act. It is estimated that the Walsh-Healey Public ContractsAct presently covers approximately 80,000

plants with about 27 million employees.

The Department of Labor regulations limit the sound levels for dailynoise exposure, measured on the A scale of a standard sound level meterat slow response. For example, maximum permissible noise exposure for 4continuous hours is 95 dBA (decibels on the A scale) while maximumpermissible noise exposure for a continuous 8 hours is 90 dBA.

I have discovered an apparatus for reducing the sound level of machineryin operation, which apparatus is simple in construction, easy to adaptto present machinery without substantially altering the construction ofthe machinery and which reduces the sound level a substantial amount.

Additionally, my apparatus, when attached to the machinery, permits easyaccess of the operator to the machinery without requiring unfastening ofvarious external fastening members. In actual test utilizing theillustrative embodiment of the present invention, wherein the soundlevel of a vibratory feeder without my sound-reducing apparatus and withmy soundreducing apparatus was measured, a substantial sound reductionwas measured. With a microphone pickup positioned 3 feet from the centerof the machine, at an octave band center frequency of 4,000 Hz, a 91 dBsound level without my sound-reduction apparatus was reduced to 75 dBwhen my sound reduction apparatus was connected to the machine.Likewise, under the same conditions but at an octave band centerfrequency of 8,000 Hz, a 91 dB sound level without my sound reductionapparatus was reduced to a 70dB sound level when my sound reductionapparatus was connected. On the dBA scale, the sound level under similarconditions was reduced from 96 dBA (without my apparatus) to 83.5 dBA(with my apparatus).

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provideapparatus for substantially reducing the sound level of operatingmachinery.

A further object of the present invention is to provide sound reductionapparation which is easily and readily connectible to present machineryand is simple to use.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide soundreduction apparatus for use with operating machinery which apparatus issimple in construction and inexpensive to produce.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the presentinvention, there is provided sound reduction apparatus for use with amachine to reduce the sound level of the machine. The sound reductionapparatus comprises a substantially non-metallic canopy formed or rigidsound-absorbing 2 material. The canopy is adapted to overlie thenoiseproducing portions of the machine.

A curtain is provided and is formed of flexible light.

transmissive, sound-restricting sheet plastic material.

Mans are provided for connecting the curtain to the canopy so that thecurtain extends downwardly from the canopy and encloses thenoise-producing portions of the machine, with the bottom of the curtainin freeresting relationship upon a surface and being capable of beinglifted by the operator to obtain access to the machine. I

A more detailed explanation of the invention is provided in thefollowing description and claims, and is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, which illustrates a perspective view of sound reductionapparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Referring to thedrawing, sound reduction apparatus 1 is shown in use with vibratoryfeeding apparatus 2. Vibratory feeding apparatus 2 is of a conventionaltype and includes a conventional feeder drive unit 3 mounted upon a base4, a steel feeder bowl 5, and conventional storage feeder apparatus 6including hopper 7, volume flow switch 8, and vibrating feeder tray 9.It is to be understood that the particular machine with which thesound-reducing apparatus of the present invention is used is of nosignificance to the invention and the vibratory feeder illustrated inthe drawing is but an example of an infinite number of machines withwhich the sound reduction apparatus is useful.

In the illustrative embodiment, sound reduction apparatus comprises abase 10 which supports base 4 and is formed of a rigid sound-absorbingmaterial. An example of satisfactory sound-absorbing material for base10 is Owens-Coming Fiberglas 1-inch thick ll-pound deluxe board, codenumber 08482631. Sound-absorbing material 10 is surrounded by a rim 12,formed of metal, or preferably, a plastic sound-restricting material.

Sound reduction apparatus 1 also includes a canopy 14 which overlies thevibratory feeder 2 and with the exception of surrounding rim 16, isformed of rigid sound-absorbing material similar or identical to thematerial forming base 10. Connected between rim l6 and sound-absorbingmaterial 14, with a good seal, is a sound reduction curtain 18 formed offlexible transparent, sound-restricting sheet plastic material. Anexample of a suitable curtain material is 0.014 inch thick clear vinylplastic sheet. Curtain 18 is connected to the canopy by rim l6 andsuitable fastening means so that the curtain extends downwardly from thecanopy l4 and encloses the noise-producing portions of vibratory feeder2 with the bottom 20 of curtain 18 being in freereseting relationshipupon top surface 22 of base 10.

Utilizing the construction illustrated in the drawing, wherein the soundreduction apparatus includes a canopy formed of a rigid sound-absorbingmaterial and having a sound-restricting, flexible, transparent curtainextending downwardly and resting upon sound-absorbing base 10, a verysignificant amount of sound reduction was achieved. It can be seen thatthe operator has the ability to view the machine in operation throughthe transparent curtain, and if access to the machine is necessary, theoperator merely has to lift the bottom 20 of curtain 18 to obtain suchaccess.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that various modifications andsubstitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the novel spirit and scope of the present invention. For example,base and canopy 14 could be formed of many different types of acousticalmaterial, while curtain 18, which is formed of a sound-restricting sheetplastic material, could be clearly transparent or could be translucentif desired, so long as the machine covered by the curtain was visible tothe operator.

What is claimed is:

1. Sound reduction apparatus for use with a machine to reduce the soundlevel of the machine to the opera tor, which comprises: a substantiallynon-metallic canopy formed of rigid sound-absorbing material, saidcanopy being adapted to overlie the noise-producing portions of themachine; a curtain formed of flexible light-transmissive,sound-restricting sheet plastic material; means connecting said curtainto said canopy so that said curtain extends downwardly from said canopyand encloses the noise-producing portions of the machine, with thebottom of the curtain in substantially free-resting relationship upon asurface and being capable of being lifted by the operator to obtainaccess to the machine.

2. Sound reduction apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein saidsurface comprises a base formed of rigid sound-restrictive materialsupporting the noiseproducing portions of the machine.

3. Sound reduction apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein said sheetplastic material is a vinyl plastic.

4. Sound reduction apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein saidconnecting means is operative to form a seal between said canopy andsaid sheet material.

5. Sound reduction apparatus for use with a machine to reduce the soundlevel of the machine to the operator, which comprises: a substantiallynon-metallic canopy formed of rigid sound-absorbing material, saidcanopy being adapted to overlie the noise-producing portions of themachine; a curtain formed of flexible light-transmissive, soundrestricting sheet plastic material; means connecting said curtain tosaid canopy so that said curtain extends downwardly from said canopy andencloses the noise-producing portions of the machine; and asubstantially non-metallic base underlying said curtain and supportingthe noise-producing portions of the machine, said base being formed ofrigid sound-absorbing material.

1. Sound reduction apparatus for use with a machine to reduce the soundlevel of the machine to the operator, which comprises: a substantiallynon-metallic canopy formed of rigid soundabsorbing material, said canopybeing adapted to overlie the noise-producing portions of the machine; acurtain formed of flexible light-transmissive, sound-restricting sheetplastic material; means connecting said curtain to said canopy so thatsaid curtain extends downwardly from said canopy and encloses thenoise-producing portions of the machine, with the bottom of the curtainin substantially free-resting relationship upon a surface and beingcapable of being lifted by the operator to obtain access to the machine.2. Sound reduction apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein saidsurface comprises a base formed of rigid sound-restrictive materialsupporting the noise-producing portions of the machine.
 3. Soundreduction apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein said sheet plasticmaterial is a vinyl plastic.
 4. Sound reduction apparatus as describedin claim 1, wherein said connecting means is operative to form a sealbetween said canopy and said sheet material.
 5. Sound reductionapparatus for use with a machine to reduce the sound level of themachine to the operator, which comprises: a substantially non-metalliccanopy formed of rigid sound-absorbing material, said canopy beingadapted to overlie the noise-producing portions of the machine; acurtain formed of flexible light-transmissive, sound restricting sheetplastic material; means connecting said curtain to said canopy so thatsaid curtain extends downwardly from said canopy and encloses thenoise-producing portions of the machine; and a substantiallynon-metallic base underlying said curtain and supporting thenoise-producing portions of the machine, said base being formed of rigidsound-absorbing material.